Side Release Buckle

ABSTRACT

A side release buckle has a male buckle member and a female buckle member. To separate the buckle members, the male buckle member is further pushed toward the female buckle member, and abutting recess slopes of pressing arms of the male buckle member slide along abutting segment slopes of abutting segments of the female buckle member to transversely bend the pressing arms inward. Then, the abutting segments can depart from the abutting recesses by further slightly pressing the pressing arms, and the male buckle member may be removed. The pushing is accomplished by the wrist and the arm, which is an easy way to apply force. The pressing can be easily accomplished by the fingers, since the pressing arms have been bent. Even if the pressing arms are strengthened in structure to enhance the engagement strength, the buckle members also can be easily separated by the same way.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a buckle, especially to a side releasebuckle.

2. Description of the Prior Arts

With reference to FIGS. 7 and 8, a conventional side release bucklecomprises a male buckle member 92 and a female buckle member 91. Thefemale buckle member 91 has an inner space, an opening 911 and twoabutting recesses 912. The opening 911 communicates with the innerspace. The abutting recesses 912 are respectively formed in twotransverse sides of an inner surface of the female buckle member 91. Themale buckle member 92 has two pressing arms 921. The pressing arms 921are respectively formed on two transverse sides of the male bucklemember 92, and protrude in a same direction. Each pressing arm 921 hasan abutting segment 922 protruding from a transverse outer surface ofthe pressing arm 921.

When in use, the male buckle member 92 is pushed toward the opening 911of the female buckle member 91, such that the pressing arms 921 aremounted into the inner space of the female buckle member 91. Thepressing arms 921 are pressed to be slightly and inwardly deformed, andthen the abutting segments 922 are respectively mounted in and abut theabutting recesses 912 of the female buckle member 91. Therefore, themale buckle member 92 and the female buckle member 91 are engagedtogether. To separate the male buckle member 92 and the female bucklemember 91, the pressing arms 921 are inwardly pressed to depart theabutting segments 922 from the abutting recesses 912. Then the malebuckle member 92 is removed from the female buckle member 91 when thepressing arms 921 remain pressed.

However, the conventional side release buckle has the followingshortcomings.

First, the easiest way to enhance the engagement strength between themale buckle member 92 and the female buckle member 91 is to thicken thepressing arms 921 or to install an outer structure to make the pressingarms hard to be pressed, thereby preventing the male buckle member 92and female buckle member 91 from easily separating from each other.However, the hard-to-press pressing arms 921 also pose difficulty for auser to separate the male buckle member 92 and female buckle member 91.In particular, the pressing arms 921 are usually pressed by the thumband the forefinger, which is a laborious way to apply force.

Second, when the male buckle member 92 and the female buckle member 91are separated, the abutting segments 922, which protrude from the outersurface of the pressing arms 921, may easily contact and rub againstother objects and thus get worn. The wear of the abutting segments 922may affect the engagement between the abutting segments 922 and theabutting recesses 912, and further lowering the engagement strengthbetween the male buckle member 92 and the female buckle member 91.

To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a siderelease buckle to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main objective of the present invention is to provide a side releasebuckle that can enhance the engagement strength between the male bucklemember and the female buckle member, and the male buckle member and thefemale buckle member also can be separated conveniently.

The side release buckle has a male buckle member and a female bucklemember. The female buckle member has an inner space, an opening, and twoabutting segments. The opening is formed in a longitudinal direction ofthe female buckle member and communicates with the inner space. Theabutting segments are respectively formed on two transverse sides of aninner surface of the female buckle member. Each abutting segment has anabutting segment slope. The abutting segment slope is formed on theabutting segment, and is inclined transversely outward toward theopening of the female buckle member. The male buckle member isselectively mounted into the female buckle member, and has two pressingarms. The pressing arms are respectively formed on two transverse sidesof the male buckle member, protrude in a same direction, and areselectively mounted in the inner space of the female buckle member. Eachpressing arm has an abutting recess. The abutting recess is formed in atransverse outer surface of the pressing arm, is selectively disposedaround the abutting segment, and has an abutting recess slope. Theabutting recess slope is formed in an inner surface of the abuttingrecess, is inclined transversely inward toward the opening of the femalebuckle member, and selectively abuts the abutting segment slope. Whenthe abutting recesses of the male buckle member are disposed around theabutting segments of the female buckle member and the male buckle memberis pushed toward the female buckle member, the abutting recess slopesslide along the abutting segment slopes to transversely bend thepressing arms inward and deform the pressing arms.

To separate the male buckle member and the female buckle member, themale buckle member is further pushed toward the female buckle member,and the abutting recess slopes of the pressing arms respectively slidealong the abutting segment slopes to transversely bend the pressing armsinward and deform the pressing arms while the abutting segments arestill mounted in the abutting recesses. At this time, the abuttingsegments can depart from the abutting recesses by further slightlypressing the pressing arms, and then the male buckle member may beremoved when the pressing arms remain in the foregoing status. Pushingthe male buckle member toward the female buckle member is accomplishedby the force of the wrist and the arm of the user, which is an easy wayto apply force. In addition, when the user further presses the pressingarms by the fingers, the pressing arms have been bent and deformed, suchthat the user does not have to spend much physical effort pressing. Evenif the pressing arms are strengthened in structure to enhance theengagement strength between the male buckle member and the female bucklemember, the male buckle member and the female buckle member also can beeasily separated by the way mentioned above.

In addition, since the concaved abutting recess is disposed in thepressing arm and the protruding abutting segment is disposed in theinner surface of the female buckle member, the abutting segment does noteasily contact or rub against other objects and get worn, therebyavoiding affecting the engagement between the abutting segment and theabutting recess.

Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention willbecome more apparent from the following detailed description when takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a side release buckle in accordance withthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the side release buckle inFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view in partial section of the side releasebuckle in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a first top view in partial section of the side release bucklein FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a second top view in partial section of the side releasebuckle in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a third top view in partial section of the side release bucklein FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a conventional side release buckle inaccordance with the prior art; and

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the conventional side releasebuckle in FIG. 7.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a side release buckle in accordancewith the present invention comprises a female buckle member 10 and amale buckle member 20.

With reference to FIGS. 2 to 4, the female buckle member 10 has an innerspace, an opening 11, two stops 12, two abutting segments 13, and twosupporting ribs 15. The opening 11 is formed in a longitudinal directionof the female buckle member 10 and communicates with the inner space.The stops 12 are respectively formed on two transverse sides of an innersurface of the female buckle member 10. The abutting segments 13 arerespectively formed on the transverse sides of the inner surface of thefemale buckle member 10. The abutting segments 13 are respectivelydisposed between the stops 12 and the opening 11. Each abutting segment13 has an abutting segment slope 14. The abutting segment slope 14 isformed on the abutting segment 13, and is inclined transversely outwardtoward the opening 11. The supporting ribs 15 are formed on the innersurface of the female buckle member 10, and are transversely arrangedseparately. Each supporting rib 15 is connected to two vertical sides ofthe inner surface of the female buckle member 10, thereby verticallystrengthening the structure of the female buckle member 10.

The male buckle member 20 is selectively mounted into the female bucklemember 10, and has two pressing arms 21 and a guiding arm 22. Thepressing arms 21 are respectively formed on two transverse sides of themale buckle member 20, protrude in a same direction, and are selectivelymounted in the inner space of the female buckle member 10 from theopening 11. Ends of the pressing arms 21 respectively and selectivelyabut the stops 12 of the female buckle member 10. Each pressing arm 21has an extending segment 211, a strengthening rib 212 and an abuttingrecess 213. The extending segment 211 and the strengthening rib 212 areformed on a transverse inner surface of the pressing arm 21. Theextending segment 211 is disposed adjacent to the end of the pressingarm 21. The strengthening rib 212 is connected to the extending segment211, and is thinner than the extending segment 211 in verticalthickness. The strengthening ribs 212 transversely strengthen thestructure of the pressing arm 21, thereby preventing the pressing arm 21from being easily bent transversely and deformed. The abutting recess213 is disposed adjacent to the end of the pressing arm 21, is formed ina transverse outer surface of the pressing arm 21, extends into theextending segment 211, is selectively disposed around the abuttingsegment 13 of the female buckle member 10, and has an abutting recessslope 214. The abutting recess slope 214 is formed in an inner surfaceof the abutting recess 213, is inclined transversely inward toward theopening 11 of the female buckle member 10, and selectively abuts theabutting segment slope 14 of the female buckle member 10. The guidingarm 22 protrudes from a center of the male buckle member 20 in adirection same as the protruding direction of the pressing arms 21, andis selectively mounted into the female buckle member 10 and between thesupporting ribs 15 of the female buckle member 10.

To assemble the male buckle member 20 and the female buckle member 10,the male buckle member 20 is pushed toward the opening 11 of the femalebuckle member 10. A relative insertion angle between the male bucklemember 20 and the female buckle member 10 may be adjusted by thecooperation of the guiding arm 22 and the supporting ribs 15. Then, theends of the pressing arms 21 respectively slide along the abuttingsegment slopes 14 of the female buckle member 10 to slightly bend thepressing arms 21 inward, such that the ends of the pressing arms 21 canpass the abutting segments 13. Finally, the abutting recesses 213 of thepressing arms 21 are respectively disposed around the abutting segments13, and the assembling of the male buckle member 20 with the femalebuckle member 10 is completed.

With reference to FIG. 5, to separate the male buckle member 20 and thefemale buckle member 10, the male buckle member 20 is further pushedtoward the female buckle member 10 until the ends of the pressing arms21 abut the stops 12. During the movement of the male buckle member 20,the abutting recess slopes 214 of the pressing arms 21 respectivelyslide along the abutting segment slopes 14 to transversely bend thepressing arms 21 inward and deform the pressing arms 21, but theabutting segments 13 are still mounted in the abutting recesses 213 ofthe pressing arms 21. With reference to FIG. 6, at this time, theabutting segments 13 can depart from the abutting recesses 213 byfurther slightly pressing the pressing arms 21, and then the male bucklemember 20 may be removed while the pressing arms 21 remain in theforegoing status. Pushing the male buckle member 20 toward the femalebuckle member 10 is accomplished by the force of the wrist and the armof the user; which is an easy way to apply force. In addition, when theuser further presses the pressing arms 21 by the fingers, the pressingarms 21 have been bent and deformed, such that the user does not have tospend much physical effort pressing.

Even if the pressing arms 21 are strengthened in structure to enhancethe engagement strength between the male buckle member 20 and the femalebuckle member 10, the male buckle member 20 and the female buckle member10 still can be easily separated by the way mentioned above.

In addition, since the concaved abutting recess 213 is disposed in thepressing arm 21, and the protruding abutting segment 13 is disposed inthe inner surface of the female buckle member 10, the abutting segmentdoes not easily contact or rub against other objects and get worn,thereby avoiding affecting the engagement between the abutting segment13 and the abutting recess 213.

In another preferred embodiment, the abutting recess and the extendingsegment can be non-adjacent to the end of the pressing arm, and isdisposed adjacent to the middle part of the pressing arm, which also hasthe same merits mentioned above.

Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the presentinvention have been set forth in the foregoing description, togetherwith details of the structure and features of the invention, thedisclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in the details,especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts withinthe principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by thebroad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims areexpressed.

What is claimed is:
 1. A side release buckle comprising: a female bucklemember having an inner space; an opening formed in a longitudinaldirection of the female buckle member and communicating with the innerspace; and two abutting segments respectively formed on two transversesides of an inner surface of the female buckle member; each abuttingsegment having an abutting segment slope formed on the abutting segment,and being inclined transversely outward toward the opening of the femalebuckle member; and a male buckle member selectively mounted into thefemale buckle member, and having two pressing arms respectively formedon two transverse sides of the male buckle member, protruding in a samedirection, and selectively mounted in the inner space of the femalebuckle member; each pressing arm having an abutting recess formed in atransverse outer surface of the pressing arm, selectively disposedaround the abutting segment, and having an abutting recess slope formedin an inner surface of the abutting recess, being inclined transverselyinward toward the opening of the female buckle member, and selectivelyabutting the abutting segment slope; wherein when the abutting recessesof the male buckle member are disposed around the abutting segments ofthe female buckle member and the male buckle member is pushed toward thefemale buckle member, the abutting recesses slope slide along theabutting segment slopes to transversely bend the pressing arms inwardand deform the pressing arms.
 2. The side release buckle as claimed inclaim 1, wherein each pressing arm of the male buckle member has anextending segment formed on a transverse inner surface of the pressingarm; and the abutting recess of said pressing arm extends into theextending segment.
 3. The side release buckle as claimed in claim 2,wherein the abutting recess and the extending segment of each pressingarm are disposed adjacent to an end of the pressing arm.
 4. The siderelease buckle as claimed in claim 2, wherein each pressing arm of themale buckle member has a strengthening rib formed on the transverseinner surface of the pressing arm, connected to the extending segment,and being thinner than the extending segment in vertical thickness. 5.The side release buckle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the female bucklemember has two stops respectively formed on the transverse sides of theinner surface of the female buckle member; the abutting segments of thefemale buckle member are respectively disposed between the stops and theopening of the female buckle member; and ends of the pressing arms ofthe male buckle member respectively and selectively abut the stops. 6.The side release buckle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the female bucklemember has two supporting ribs formed on the inner surface of the femalebuckle member and transversely arranged separately; each supporting ribconnected to two vertical sides of the inner surface of the femalebuckle member.
 7. The side release buckle as claimed in claim 6, whereinthe male buckle member has a guiding arm protruding from the male bucklemember in a direction same as the protruding direction of the pressingarms, and selectively mounted into the female buckle member and betweenthe supporting ribs of the female buckle member.